Billiard cue

ABSTRACT

The present invention is to provide a billiard cue having an improved shaft. The shaft includes a wooden main shaft, an interior shaft, and an exterior coating. The wooden main shaft has a hollow core with a predetermined length extending along the direction of a longitudinal axis of the main shaft. The interior shaft is made of a material harder than the wooden main shaft and is tightly received in the hollow core of the main shaft. The exterior coating is made of a fiber composite material and is coated on the exterior periphery of the main shaft. Accordingly, the main shaft takes advantages of the wooden material and can prevent curvature and/or deformation by means of the interior shaft and the exterior coating.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to a billiard cue, andmore particularly to a billiard cue with an improved shaft.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Although a wooden material is provided with specific elasticityand toughness and is quite adapted to making billiard cues. However,there are still several flaws not overcome yet. For example, aconventional billiard cue made of the wooden material is vulnerable tocurvature or deformation due to the climatic factors. Furthermore, theconventional billiard cue is made of identical natural wood, which formsdifferent fiber structure due to growing sequence and differenceenvironment, so that a rod body of the conventional billiard cue willhave different elasticity and hardness at each parts thereof as a resultof different fiber structure and then the conventional billiard cue isineffective in manipulation of hitting a cue ball.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The primary objective of the present invention is to provide abilliard cue with an improved shaft, which keeps advantages of a woodenrod body and is not vulnerable to curvature or deformation due to theclimatic factors, i.e. the rod body of the improved billiard cue willkeep straight for a long time.

[0004] Another objective of the present invention is to provide abilliard cue with an improved shaft, which is preferably stable inmanipulation of hitting a cue ball under the circumstance of keepingadvantages of a wooden rod body.

[0005] In keeping with the principle of the present invention, theforegoing objectives of the present invention are attained by thebilliard cue including an improved shaft. The shaft is composed of awooden main shaft, an interior shaft, and an exterior coating. Thewooden main shaft has a hollow core with a predetermined lengthextending along the direction of a longitudinal axis of the main shaft.The interior shaft is made of a material harder than the wooden mainshaft and is tightly received in the hollow core of the main shaft. Theexterior coating is made of a fiber composite material and coated on theexterior periphery of the main shaft. Accordingly, the main shaft takesadvantages of the wooden material and prevents curvature and/ordeformation by means of the interior shaft and the exterior coating suchthat the billiard cue is preferably stable in manipulation of hittingthe cue ball.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1 is a front view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention;

[0007]FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the direction indicated bya line 2-2 as shown in FIG. 1; and

[0008]FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the direction indicated bya line 3-3 as shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Referring to FIG. 1, a billiard cue 10 provided by a preferredembodiment of the present invention includes a shaft 12 and a butt 14,which are coupled with each other by a method of being threadedlyengaged or adhesively engaged or others. The shaft 12 has a largediametrical end coupled with the but 14 and a small diametrical endfastened sequentially with a ferrule 16 and a tip 18. The butt 14 has alarge diametrical end fastened with a bumper 20 and a small diametricalend coupled with the large diametrical end of the shaft 12.

[0010] Referring to FIGS. 2-3, the shaft 12 is in shape of taper andincludes the small diametrical end, which outer diameter issubstantially 13 millimeters, and the large diametrical end, which is 20millimeters. The shaft 12 is composed of a main shaft 22, an interiorshaft 24, and an exterior coating 26.

[0011] The main shaft 22 is in shape of taper with a total length of73.66 centimeters (29 inches) and is made of a natural wooden material,such as maple, mahogany, walnut, and other hardwood. The main shaft 22has a small diametrical end, which outer diameter is in a range of 11millimeters to 11.4 millimeters, and a large diametrical end, whichouter diameter is in a range of 18 millimeters to 18.4 millimeters. Themain shaft 22 has a hollow core 28, which extends along the direction ofa longitudinal axis of the main shaft 22 and runs through the two endsof the main shaft 22. The diameter of the hollow core 28 is about 6millimeters. Please note that the above sizes and proportions areapplied to the present invention only and can be altered according toother circumstances.

[0012] The interior shaft 24 is made of a material harder than wood,like metals or fiber composite materials including carbon fibercomposite material, fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP), and so on, and iscorresponding to the hollow core 28 of the main shaft 22 both in lengthand outer diameter. In the present embodiment, the interior shaft 24 isa hollow rod body, i.e. a tube, and has an outer diameter of 6millimeters and an inner diameter of 4 millimeters. The interior shaft24 is tightly received in the hollow core 28 of the main shaft 22.

[0013] The exterior coating 26, which is fixedly coated on an exteriorperiphery of the main shaft 22, is made of a fiber composite material,like carbon fiber composite material, glass fiber composite material,fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP), etc. The exterior coating 26 has athickness in a range of 0.8 millimeters to 1 millimeter. In other words,the overall diameter of the shaft 12 is 13 millimeters at the smalldiametrical end and 20 millimeters at the large diametrical end. Pleasenote that the exterior coating 26 is made by a prior art of rolling theexterior periphery of the main shaft 22 by a fiber cloth soaked withepoxy resin or winding around the exterior periphery of the main shaft22 by a fiber bundle and then hardening and forming by heat treatment.Since the prior art is not in accordance with subject matter, it willnot be described in details thereafter.

[0014] From the aforemention, the billiard cue 10 includes the shaft 12,which is effective in hitting a cue ball by means of specific elasticityand toughness provided by the wooden main shaft 22. Additionally, theinterior shaft 24 and the exterior coating 26 can prevent the woodenmain shaft 22 from the curvature and/or deformation due to climaticfactors and keep the shaft 12 straight for a long time. In the meantime,the interior shaft 24 and the exterior coating 26 can alternatively bemade of a metal or a fiber composite material or other materials, eitherone of which structurally can also keep the shaft 12 straight by currentmanufacturing technology thereof. Accordingly, the billiard cue 10 ofthe present invention is preferably free from a flaw of ineffectivemanipulation due to a conventional billiard cue's fiber structure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A billiard cue comprising a shaft, said shaftcomprising: a wooden main shaft having a hollow core with apredetermined length extending along the direction of a longitudinalaxis thereof; an interior shaft made of a material harder than saidwooden main shaft and tightly received in said hollow core of said mainshaft; and an exterior coating made of a fiber composite material andbeing coated on the exterior periphery of said main shaft.
 2. Thebilliard cue as defined in claim 1, wherein said hollow core of saidmain shaft runs through two ends of said main shaft.
 3. The billiard cueas defined in claim 1, wherein said interior shaft is a hollow rod body.4. The billiard cue as defined in claim 1, wherein said main shaft has asmall diametrical end with an outer diameter in between 11 millimetersand 11.4 millimeters, and a large diametrical end with an outer diameterin between 19 millimeters and 19.4 millimeters; wherein said interiorshaft has an outer diameter of 6 millimeters substantially; wherein saidexterior coating has a thickness in between 0.8 millimeters and 1millimeter.
 5. The billiard cue as defined in claim 3, wherein said mainshaft has a small diametrical end with an outer diameter in between 11millimeters and 11.4 millimeters, and a large diametrical end with anouter diameter in between 19 millimeters and 19.4 millimeters; whereinsaid interior shaft has an outer diameter of 6 millimeterssubstantially; wherein said exterior coating has a thickness in between0.8 millimeters and 1 millimeter.